We first met Fred Alldredge 10 years ago on our initial trip to Joe Royers wonderful Ruby Mountain Heli ski operation (https://helicopterskiing.com/). During subsequent visits and conversations with him, we spent numerous hours outlining InterWest’s approach to safety. We focused on the movement toward scalable programs, designed to utilize adult learning, behavior modification/reinforcement and checklists that guide the activities needed to accomplish a task safely.
At that time, one of our risk control specialists, Russell Lee, was instrumental in developing our safety programs while completing his Masters in Adult Learning at Chico State University. These programs affirmed our core belief that 90% of losses are related to unsafe behaviors and we needed solutions that were measurable, designed to impact behaviors, drive efficiencies and which could be incorporated into an organization’s revenue-generating process.
Fred began applying these concepts to his own personal and professional development in climbing, avalanche safety, aviation logistics and incident command positions for the US Forest Service. As we continued to observe him in action at the Ruby’s, it became evident that he had more than a passing interest in developing functional safety programs that were sustainable and taught staff members how to anticipate and react to problems before they developed into catastrophic events.
Fred spends the majority of his time in very demanding situations with little room for error. He is now using our program design and forms to improve the safety procedures at an Antarctic logistics company and as a guide with Madison Mountaineering (www.madisonmountaineering.com). InterWest is excited that the programs created and maintained by our world- class risk control team are being used at both ends of the earth.
We firmly believe that the same programs being used to scale Mt Everest, can and should be used by our own clients. They are measurable, scalable, utilize checklists, or what we now call performance support documents, and improve the communication skills of their supervisors.
Please join us in following Fred Alldredge and the Madison Mountaineering crew as they attempt to summit Mt. Everest in the spring of 2015. We will be featuring links to Fred’s blog, and Instagram account as well as links from the InterWest website (www.iwins.com).
Follow Fred Alldredge
